It's not often that I'm wrong... but I'm wrong again.

So I am back from my trip into the rural areas of New South Wales. The scenery was great most of the way. Lots of rain has fallen so everything was green. Not much to report to be honest except 2 things: Fruit and Griffith.

I had heard that in some places of Aus, when you travel interstate, you are not allowed to transfer fruit between States and have to dump it in specially marked bins because of the cross contamination danger of fruit flies. Ok, understood. But within the same state? Well, in preparing for my cross-country trip, I knew on the Wednesday that it would be Ash Wednesday which for us Catholics is a day of fasting and abstinence, so I had planned instead of a normal lunch, I would have an apple and nectarine in the fridge in my car chilled nicely. Well about 350km in the middle of nowhere, I suddenly start seeing these huge road signs with fruit flies: DO NOT BRING FRUIT INTO THIS AREA. FINE: $200. DISPOSE OF IN THE BINS PROVIDED. Well I thought, I'll take my chances, I mean my fruit isn't sweating in a car: it is in a sealed fridge in the boot - no fly would live in that temperature. But the signs became more frequent and I started to get more concerned and feel more and more guilty. Breaking the law - on Ash Wednesday nogal! So to still my conscience, I got angry and started practicing what I would tell any cop who dared pull me over. A one man heated argument happening in my car: ' Besides, Officer, which bin should I put them in? - the signs are there, but there are no bins!' (It was true, there were no bins) About 15km into this tirade, the signs became angrier and then I saw it: a bright yellow bin clearly marked and above it the sign read: FINE: MAXIMUM $11 000. I pulled over and tossed the perfectly chilled nectarine and apple into the blasted bin.

Griffith. Now as the title says, It's not often that I am wrong, but boy was I glad I was wrong again. About 600km West of Sydney in the middle of ... well, nowhere, lies a town called Griffith - for those in South Africa, think Beaufort West or perhaps Fargo for those in the US. Now online I saw a couple of pictures - how bad could it be: The Grand Motel. (Better than The Royal Motel? who knows?) But you know the image it conjours up? Synthetic carpets, a dodgy character at reception, some stains on the carpets and sheets - Roach Motel. And Griffith is remote - it is supposed by all reports to be Hickville. And on the way, there are some real backwater towns with signs:- 'Come and see the largest playable guitar in the world! The largest stone sheep....etc.etc. But boy was I wrong! Immaculate Chinese porcelain tiles, double volume room airconned, natural stone counters, Wrap around frameless glass showers, free Broadband - I was gobsmacked - it really was better than a 4 star hotel in Sydney! The third photo is of the room but doesn't do it justice - I suck at photography. The top 2 - excuse the camera-phone quality was of our meal - the pudding was my colleague's - I was a good boy and just had the fish and chips - in the motel restaurant - the ambiance and furnishings and the presentation and quality of the food could have been in an exclusive waterfront restaurant in Sydney, it was so good. I only also realised afterwards that I had ordered fish - 600k's inland, but it was good. No website but the next time you are in Griffith: http://www.wotif.com/hotels/the-grand-motel.html

Pictures don't do it justice.